Best 100 Horror Books

[mattofthespurs]

Wasn't sure where to put this so please feel free to move it if this part of the forum is inappropriate.

Any-hoo.

I've read, and enjoyed, both Best 100 horror books and it's sequel and have been trying to collect every book, and then read, in the list of 200.

I am around 20 books short of the complete 200 (I'll start on the recommended reading list once I have, if I ever, reach my goal) and wondered if anyone else is collecting them as well.

I had a fair few already in my library but there are one or two it looks like I'll never get but I'll keep on searching.

Anyone else trying to track them down and plough through them? (I say 'plough' because some of the earlier books especially are, to my limited intellect, nigh on impossible to read).

[dem]

not consciously, matt. i've a fair few from the first book - never bought the second for some reason - and there are maybe another five i'd love to cop hold of, but there are some that hold little or no interest for me. are there any you've read made you wonder what the person who nominated them was thinking? Is it Brian Stableford who opted for Anthony Boucher's The Compleat Werewolf? that sure had me scratching my head: the title novella in particular seemed horribly dated when i read it and not in a good way. by contrast, the late Charles L Grant knew a neglected masterpiece when he read one.

[dem]

one massive apology to Brian Stableford later! the first book, and who nominated what.

Stephen Jones & Kim Newman (eds.) - Horror: 100 Best Books (Xanadu, 1988)

Foreword - Ramsey Campbell
Introduction - Stephen Jones & Kim Newman

1. Clive Barker - The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, Christopher Marlowe
2. John Blackburn - The Tragedy of Macbeth, William Shakespeare
3. Diana Wynne Jones - The White Devil, John Webster
4. Scott Bradfield - Caleb Williams, William Godwin
5. Les Daniels - The Monk, Matthew Gregory Lewis
6. John Sladek - The Best Tales of E. T. A. Hoffman
7. David Pirie - Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen
8. Jane Yolen - Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
9. Peter Tremayne - Melmoth the Wanderer, Charles Maturin
10. Garry Kilworth - The Confessions of a Justified Sinner, James Hogg
11. John M. Ford - Tales of Mystery & Imagination, Edgar Allan Poe
12. Edgar Allen Poe - Twice-Told Tales, Nathaniel Hawthorne
13. Thomas Tessier - The Black Spider, Jeremias Gotthelf
14. Thomas M. Disch - The Wandering Jew, Eugéne Sue
15. Michael McDowell - The Confidence Man, Herman Melville
16. M. R. James - Uncle Silas, J. Sheridan Le Fanu
17. Jack Williamson - Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Rober Louis Stevenson
18. Tim Stout - She, H. Rider Haggard
19. H. P. Lovecraft - The King in Yellow, Rober W. Chambers
20. Gene Wolfe - The Island of Dr Moreau, H. G. Wells
21. Colin Wilson - Dracula, Bram Stoker
22. R. Chetwynd-Hayes - The Turn of the Screw, Henry James
23. Douglas E. Winter - Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad
24. Richard Dalby - The Jewel of Seven Stars, Bram Stoker
25. Geoff Ryman - Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, M. R. James
26. T. E. D. Klein - The House of Souls, Arthur Machen
27. Hilaire Belloc - John Silence, Algernon Blackwood
28. David Langford - The Man Who Was Thursday, G.K. Chesterton
29. Terry Pratchett - The House on the Borderland, William Hope Hodgson
30. Milton Subotsky - The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce
31. Mike Ashley - Widdershins, Oliver Onions
32. Basil Copper - The Horror Horn, E. F. Benson
33. George Hay - A Voyage of Arcturus, David Lindsay
34. Steve Rasnic Tem - The Trial, Franz Kafka
35. Robert E. Howard - Something About Eve, James Branch Cabell
36. Karl E. Wagner - Medusa, E. H. Visiak
37. Marvin Kaye - The Werewolf of Paris, Guy Endore
38. Jessica Amanda Salmonson - The Last Bouquet, Marjorie Bowen
39. Robert Bloch - The Cadaver of Gideon Wyck, Alexander Laing
40. Hugh Lamb - A Second Century of Creepy Stories, Hugh Walpole
41. Lionel Fanthorpe - The Dark Tower, C. S. Lewis
42. Dennis Etchison - Johnny Got His Gun, Dalton Trumbo
43. Donald A. Wollheim -The Outsider and Others, H.P. Lovecraft
44. Harlan Ellison - Out of Space and Time, Clark Ashton Smith
45. Gerald W. Page - Conjure Wife, Fritz Leiber
46. Maxim Jakubowski - Night Has a Thousand Eyes, Cornell Woolrich
47. Graham Masterton - The Lurker at the Threshold, H. P. Lovecraft & August Derleth
48. Forrest J. Ackerman - Deliver Me from Eva, Paul Bailey
49. David J. Hartwell - And the Darkness Falls, Boris Karloff
50. Peter Haining - The Sleeping and the Dead, August Derleth
51. Robert R. McMaccon - Track of the Cat, Walter Van Tilburg Clark
52. Suzy McKee Charnas - The Sound of His Horn, Sarban
53. Joe Haldeman - Lord of the Flies, William Golding
54. Richard Christian Matheson - I am Legend, Richard Matheson
55. Joe R. Lansdale - The October Country, Ray Bradbury
56. Stephen Gallagher - Nine Horrors and a Dream, Joseph Payne Brennan
57. Hugh B. Cave - Psycho, Robert Bloch
58. Stephen Laws -Quatermass and the Pit, Nigel Kneale
59. Michel Parry - Cry Horror!, H. P. Lovecraft
60. Lisa Tuttle -The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson
61. Tad Williams - The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, Philip K. Dick
62. Jack Dann - The Painted Bird, Jerzy Kosinski
63. Craig Shaw Gardner - The Crystal World, J. G. Ballard
64. Colin Greenland - Sub Rosa, Robert Aickman
65. Brian Aldiss - The Green Man, Kingsley Amis
66. Neil Gaiman - The Compleat Werewolf, Anthony Boucher
67. Dan Simmons - Grendel, John Gardner
68. F. Paul Wilson - The Exorcist, William Peter Blatty
69. John Skipp - The Sheep Look Up, John Brunner
70. Francis Garfield - Worse Things Waiting, Manly Wade Wellman
71. Stephen King - Burnt Offerings, Robert Marasco
72. Al Sarrantonio - 'Salem's Lot, Stephen King
73. Craig Spector - Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
74. Brian Lumley - Murgunstrumm and Others, Hugh B. Cave
75. Charles L. Grant - Sweetheart, Sweetheart, Bernard Taylor
76. David J. Schow - All Heads Turn When the Hunt Goes, by, John Farris
77. Peter Straub - The Shining, Stephen King
78. William F. Nolan - Falling Angel, William Hjortsberg
79. Charles de Lint - The Wolfen, Whitley Strieber
80. Shaun Hutson - The Totem, David Morrell
81. Peter Nicholls - Ghost Story, Peter Straub
82. Christopher Evans - The Land of Laughs, Jonathan Carrol
83. David S. Garnett - The Cellar, Richard Laymon
84. Geoff Williamson - Red Dragon, Thomas Harris
85. J. N. Williamson -The Keep, F. Paul Wilson
86. Samantha Lee - The Dark Country, Dennis Etchison
87. Ramsey Campbell - In a Lonely Place, Karl Edward Wagner
88. John Clute - The Anubis Gates, Tim Powers
89. Brian Stableford - The Arabian Nightmare,, Robert Irwin
90. Malcolm Edwards - The Wasp Factory, Iain Banks
91. Thomas F. Monteleone - The Ceremonies, T. E. D. Klein
92. Michael Moorcock - Mythago Wood, Robert Holdstock
93. Ian Watson - Who Made Stevie Crye?, Michael Bishop
94. Edward Bryant - Song of Kali, Dan Simmons
95. Adrian Cole - Damnation Game, Clive Barker
96. R. S. Hadji - Hawksmoor, Peter Ackroyd
97. Robert Holdstock - A Nest of Nightmares, Lisa Tuttle
98. Guy N. Smith - The Pet, Charles L. Grant
99. Eddy C. Bertin - Swan Song, Robert McCammon
100. Jack Sullivan - Dark Feasts, Ramsey Campbell

just found out that Charles Birkin's A Haunting Beauty made the second best hundred books. so who is the person of impeccable taste went for that?

[andydecker]

Interesting choices. I am sure flogging a dead horse here, but there is a lot of SF here, isn´t it?

[dem]

... and Eat Them Alive glaringly conspicuous by its absence.

[Jojo Lapin X]

Look! Peter Straub chose Stephen King's THE SHINING! He is full of surprises.

[ramseycampbell]

Aug 25, 2011 7:56:13 GMT dem said:

just found out that Charles Birkin's A Haunting Beauty made the second best hundred books. so who is the person of impeccable taste went for that?

John Pelan.

[ramseycampbell]

Aug 25, 2011 9:40:29 GMT Jojo Lapin X said:

Look! Peter Straub chose Stephen King's THE SHINING! He is full of surprises.

Peter was always a huge enthusiast for The Shining - along with Salem's Lot it was one of his earliest favourites in the field, well before he met Steve as I recall.

[Jojo Lapin X]

Aug 25, 2011 12:59:12 GMT ramseycampbell said:

Peter was always a huge enthusiast for The Shining - along with Salem's Lot it was one of his earliest favourites in the field, well before he met Steve as I recall.

I was not trying to suggest that his enthusiasm is not genuine; I was trying to suggest that he has poor taste.

[andydecker]

Aug 25, 2011 12:59:12 GMT ramseycampbell said:

Peter was always a huge enthusiast for The Shining - along with Salem's Lot it was one of his earliest favourites in the field, well before he met Steve as I recall.

Aug 25, 2011 14:41:40 GMT Jojo Lapin X said:

[
I was not trying to suggest that his enthusiasm is not genuine; I was trying to suggest that he has poor taste.

Compared to Voyage to Arcturus this is horror at its best. I guess I would have put Michael Slade on the list (or Guy N. smith, come to think of it) , but even as a lapsed King fan who hasn´t read anything by the man since the 90s I would defend The Shining as a memorable one.

[Craig Herbertson]

Strange choice - hopefully a Voyage to Arcturus was given the right title in the original. It's among my favourite books and is of course horrific but isn't really to my mind part of the genre except in a very loose sense.

[mattofthespurs]

Aug 25, 2011 14:41:40 GMT Jojo Lapin X said:

Aug 25, 2011 12:59:12 GMT ramseycampbell said:

Peter was always a huge enthusiast for The Shining - along with Salem's Lot it was one of his earliest favourites in the field, well before he met Steve as I recall.

I was not trying to suggest that his enthusiasm is not genuine; I was trying to suggest that he has poor taste.

It would appear that my claim to fame is that I have equally bad taste as Peter Straub.
Oh how I wish I was in such hallowed company all the time.

[mattofthespurs]

Here is the next 100.



The Revenger's Tragedy by Tourneur picked by Silverberg
The Queen Of Spades By Puskin picked by Chelsea Yarbro Quinn
A Christmas Carol by Dicken picked by Elizabeth Hand
Jane Eyre By Charlotte Bronte picked by Doug Bradley
The Manuscript Found In Saragossa by Potocki picked by Jay Lake
New Grub Street by George Gissing picked by K.W. Jeter
Picture Of Dorian Gray by Wilde picked by David J Skal
War Of The Worlds by H.G Wells picked by Les Edwards
Hound Of The Baskervilles by Doyle picked by Tony Richards
The Boats of 'Glen Carrig' by Hodgson picked by Rick Hautala
The Phantom of the Opera by Leroux picked by Lofficer (both of them)
Fantomas by Souvestre & Allain picked by Tim Lucas
Case of Charles Dexter Ward by Lovecraft picked by Christoper Wicking
They Return at Evening by Wakefield picked by Roden's
Creep, Shadow! by A Merritt picked by Sydney J Bounds
Trail of Fu Mancu by Sax Rohmer picked by Chaz Benchley
The Devil Rides Out by Wheatley picked by Stephen Volk
The Haunted Omnibus ed. A Laing picked by Gahan Wilson
The Edge of Running Water by William Sloane picked by Robert Weinberg
The Stranger by Camus picked by T. Wright
Sleep No More ed Derleth picked by David A Sutton
Lost Worlds by Clark Ashton Smith picked by Storm Constantine
Jumbee and other tales by Whitehead picked by S Dziemianowicz
Great Tales of teh Supernatural ed Herbert Wise and P Fraser picked by Gwyneth Jones
Opener of The way By Robert Bloch picked by Joel Lane
Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake picked by Christopher Fowler
Carnacki The Ghost Finder by Hodgson picked by Gary Gianni
Darker Than You Think by Jack Williamson picked by Randy Broeker
Tales of Horror and The Supernatural by Machen picked by Tanith Lee
Nineteen Eighty Four by Orwell picked by Lucius Shepard
House Of Flesh by Bruno Fischer picked by David Bischoff
Fancies and Goodnights by John Collier picked by Anne Billson
The Killer Inside Me by Thompson picked by Nancy A Collins
The Third Ghost Book ed Lady Cynthia Asquith picked by Laurence Staig
The Body Snatchers by Finney picked by Andy Duncan
Talented Mr Ripley by Highsmith picked by John Gordon
The Hunger and Other Stories by Charles Beaumont picked by Norman Partridge
The Blind Owl by Hedayat picked by Robert irwin
Mudwich Cuckoos by Wyndham picked by Mark Morris
Scent of New Mown Hay by John Blackburn picked by Howard Waldrop
Stir of Echoes by Richard Matheson picked by Ed Gorman
Weirdstone of Brinsingamen by Alan Garner picked by Muriel Gray
Tales of Terror ed Charles Higham picked by Terry Dowling
Some of your Blood by T Sturgeon picked by Peter Akins
We Have Always Lived In The Castle by Shirley Jackson picked by Jack Womack
The Case Against Satan by Ray Russell picked by Darrell Schweitzer
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury picked by Peter Crowther
The Collector by John Fowles picked by Ian MacLeod
Who Fears The Devil by Manly Wade Wellman picked by Glen Hirshberg
A Wrinkle In The Skin by John Christopher picked by Simon Clark
Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin picked by Nancy Holder
The Playboy Book of Horror and the Supernatural ed Ray Russell picked by Ellen Datlow
Pages From Cold Point by Paul Bowles picked by Terry Lamsley
Outer Dark by Cormac McCarthy picked by John Farris
The Book of Skulls by Robert Silverberg picked by Stephen Baxter
Harvest Home by Thomas Tyron picked by Elizabeth Massie
The Night Stalker by Jeff Rice picked by P.N Elrod
Blood Sport by Robert F Jones picked by Michael Swanwick
Nightshade by Derek Marlowe picked by Nicholas Royle
Peace by Gene Wolfe picked by Roz Kaveney
The Year of the Sex Olympics by Nigel Kneale picked by David Drake
Our Lady Of Darkness by Fritz Leiber picked by Marc Laidlaw
The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan picked by Paul McAuley
Darkness Weaves With Many Shades by Karl Edward Wagner picked by Jo Fletcher
The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter picked by Sir Christopher Frayling
Sweeny Todd by Sondheim & Wheeler picked by Thomas Ligotti
Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen picked by D.F Lewis
Dark Forces ed Kirby McCauley picked by Christopher Golden
Tales From The Nightside by Charles L Grant picked by John Burke
They Thirst by McCammon picked by Yvonne Navarro
The Face that Must Die by Ramsey Campbell picked by Poppy Z Brite
The Woman In Black by Susan Hill picked by David Stuart Davies
Pet Semetary by Stephen King picked by Michael Marshall Smith
Books of Blood Volumes I, II, III by Clives Barker picked by Anthony Timpone
Perfume by Partick Suskind picked by Nancy Kilpatrick
Finishing Touches by Thomas Tessier picked by Bill Sheehan
Strange Toys by Patricia Geary picked by Kelly Link
Dark Descent ed David G Hartwell picked by Allen Koszowski
Misery by Stephen King picked by Graham Joyce
Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris picked by Frank M Robinson
Prime evil ed Douglas E Winter picked by Mark Chadbourn
By Bizarre Hands by Joe R Lansdale picked by Jay Russell
The Grotesque by Patrick McGrath picked by Peter H Cannon
Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons picked by David Morrell
From Hell by Moore & Campbell picked by Stephen R Bissette
American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis picked by David McGillvray
Lost Souls by Poppy Z Brite picked by Brian Hodge
The Course of The Heart by M. John Harrison picked by China Mieville
Flicker by Theodore Roszak picked by Adam Simon
X,Y by Michael Blumlein picked by Paul De Filippo
Skin by Kathe Koja picked by Caitlin R. Kiernan
Throat Sprockets by Tim Lucas picked by Tananarive Due
The Off Season by Jack Cady picked by Simon R Green
The Nightmare Factory by Thomas Ligotti picked by S.T Joshi
A Sight For Sore Eyes by Ruth Rendall picked by Roberta Lannes
Reprisal by Mitchell Smith picked by Michael Shea
A Haunting Beauty by Sir Charles Birkin picked by John Pelan
Hose Of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski picked by Jeff Vandermeer
Feesters In The Lake and other stories by Bob Leman picked by Richard A Lupoff
More Tomorrow and Other Stories by Michael Marshall Smith picked by Tim Lebbon.


Ok, that's the second 100. Let the discussions begin!

[Jojo Lapin X]

Hang on! I am preparing a rant.

[dem]

Aug 25, 2011 17:52:44 GMT mattofthespurs said:

I have equally bad taste as Peter Straub.

me too. i like The Shining and Salem's Lot as much as the next man, but towering above the pair of 'em, the horrific and extremely sad Pet Semetary!

thanks for providing the contents to the second book, matt. it's no more than a quirk of the format, i guess, but female authors are shockingly under-represented with just five titles making the cut in Horror: 100 Best Books and, perhaps tellingly, three of them nominated by women. so far it doesn't look as if things have picked up in Another 100 ... either. pause to consider if The Lurker at the Threshold is really a better novel than, say, Anne River Siddons' The House Next Door?

pause to consider the terrifying prospect of Horror: 100 Best Books ... as selected by vault of evil regulars.

Aug 25, 2011 12:54:28 GMT ramseycampbell said:

Aug 25, 2011 7:56:13 GMT dem said:

just found out that Charles Birkin's A Haunting Beauty made the second best hundred books. so who is the person of impeccable taste went for that?

John Pelan.

Thanks Ramsey, i should have guessed! and i see i was right in assuming that it was someone other than yourself who opted for The Devil Rides Out. I always had you down as more of a Gateway To Hell man.